Corset or dress stay



(No Model.)

0. S. COLE. CORSET OR. DRESS STAY.

No. 500,471. Patented June 27, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES S. COLE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

CORSET' OR DRESS STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 500,471, dated June 27, 1893.

Application filed November 15, 1892.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. COLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corset or Dress Stays; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to produce a corset and dress stay which shall be simple and inexpensive to produce, inodorous under all circumstances, impervious to heat, cold or moisture, pliable and elastic, and practically non-breakable. With these ends in view I have devised the novel stay made from fish scales which I will now describe referring by numbers to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating a stay in which the stay proper or stiffener consists of overlapping fish scales secured together by stitching said stay being placed in an ordinary textile sheath or covering; Fig. 2 a longitudinal section corresponding with Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a View similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a stay in which the stay proper or stiffener consists of overlapping fish scales secured together by a suitable size or glue without stitching, and Figs. 4. and 5 are views illustrating a stay consisting of a sheet of overlapping fish scales secured and folded together to form three plies.

It will be apparent from the above that the manner in which the overlapping fish scales are secured together is not of the essence of my invention. The material from which the stays are made is so tough and elastic that it will work equally well whether the scales are secured together by stitching or whether they are laid in size or glue and pressed together.

In Fig. 1 I have illustrated a stay in which layers of overlapping scales denoted by 1 are secured together by lines of stitching denoted Serial No. 45 2,059- (No model.)

by 3 and are placed between plies of textile material denoted by 2. In this form the scales may be stitched together in layers overlapping each other, by multiple needle sewing machines, the product being in the form of a long strip which simply requires that the edges be trimmed and may then be cut up into stays of any required length which may or may not be used in connection with sheaths of textile material.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a mode of carrying my invention into effect in which a sheet is made by laying fish scales in suitable size or glue, compacting them together closely and evenly by passing them between heavy rollers and then drying the sheets in anysuitable manner. The sheets are then cut up into strips of suitable size to form stays of any required length, and may be used either with or without sheaths of textile material.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have illustrated a form of stay which is formed by folding over plies of a comparatively thin sheet of overlapping scales secured together in any suitable man- Her and then stitching or otherwise securing the plies together.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. A corset or dress stay composed of fish scales secured to each other with their edges overlapping, substantially as described.

2. A corset or dress stay consisting of a series of overlapping fish scales laid together in the form of a strip, said scales being secured together by stitching, substantially as described.

3. A corset or dress stay consisting of a series of overlapping fish scales secured to each other in the form of a strip and a casing of textile material, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix'my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES S. COLE.

Witnesses:

A. M. WOOSTER, PEARL M. REYNO DS. 

